GIBRALTAR, Mich. – A Wayne County man was sentenced to 17 years in prison after he filmed himself performing a sex act on a child under 10 years old, officials said.
Travis Timmons, 33, of Gibraltar, pleaded guilty to using his cellphone to create a video of himself sexually assaulting a child, according to authorities.
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“This offender engaged in hands-on abuse to create sexually explicit images of a young child,” United States Attorney Dawn Ison said. “This sentence holds him accountable for this serious offense. Our commitment to vigorously work to keep children in our community safe is unwavering.”
Timmons also pretended to be a younger boy or man online to have conversations with young girls, offering them vape pens in exchange for sexually explicit pictures and sex acts, federal officials said.
Police said when they tried to arrest Timmons, he jumped out his window and fled.
He was eventually taken into custody and pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children. He was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.
“We must protect the most vulnerable members of our community, our children, from sexual exploitation,” said James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. “I would like to thank the Gibraltar Police Department for their partnership during this investigation.
“No amount of prison or restitution can make these victims whole, but lengthy prison sentences, like the one in this case, send a strong message to these offenders that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will use all our available resources to bring them to justice.”
